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Gordon talks about Sampson; Chad Ford talks about his draft position

by in Media | May 30th, 2008

ejgordon001.jpgWith all of the NCAA allegations/recruiting news going on in Bloomington over the past month, we haven’t had a chance to update you on Eric Gordon and his NBA Draft stock. Gordon is down in Orlando participating in the “combine” portion of the pre-draft camp. Rather than working out, he’s being tested for strength, agility, speed and size.

He’s also going through some interviews and here’s what he told Jeff Rabjohns of The Indianapolis Star about his old buddy Kelvin Sampson:

“We had a real good relationship. After all the stuff I’ve been through in college with Illinois and Indiana and all that and for me to play for him my first year of college, we got pretty close. It’d be neat (to play for him in the NBA), but there’s a lot of other good coaches out there. I don’t want to just be specific on playing for him.”

Let me translate. Since I’m a really nice kid and don’t want to throw Kelvin under the bus, I’m going to say that I enjoyed playing for him, but I’m really looking forward to a fresh start. If I was Gordon, the last thing I’d want during my rookie season is to answer questions about IU and Sampson.

Meanwhile, ESPN draft guru Chad Ford has the latest on Gordon’s wrist and a list of teams that are interested in his services:

Gordon said his wrist is totally healed and he’s back to being a dead-eye behind the arc. The thing that stuck out to me about Gordon was his size. He is so wide for a guard. He looks like a 6-foot-4 power forward. Given his athleticism and quickness, that size will serve him well in the pros. He’s significantly bigger than Mayo or Jerryd Bayless.

Sources say that Gordon will likely fall to either Seattle at No. 4, the Knicks at No. 6 or the Clippers at No. 7. On potential, he could be the third- or fourth-best player in this draft. If his jumper is falling in workouts, his stock will be quickly repaired.

If Gordon shows that his wrist is 100% and has the range he exhibited early in the season, I see no reason why O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless would go ahead of him. Gordon might be the best pure scorer in the draft and his body is more than NBA ready. Let’s just hope he doesn’t go to the disaster also known as the Knicks.

Stock Watch: Eric Gordon and D.J. White

by in Media | April 14th, 2008

ejdraft.jpgStock Watch is Inside the Hall’s look at the NBA draft prospectus for Eric Gordon and D.J. White.

With a little more than two months remaining before the NBA Draft takes place, some of the best mock drafts are starting to trickle onto the Web. Here’s a glance at a few of the best out there and where they have Gordon and White pegged at this point (it’s important to remember that until the draft lottery is conducted, the teams these sites have listed are relatively meaningless):

Draft Express: Eric Gordon No. 7 to the Milwaukee Bucks; D.J. White No. 42 to the Sacramento Kings

NBAdraft.net: Eric Gordon No. 7 to the Milwaukee Bucks; D.J. White No. 31 to the Minnesota Timberwolves

HoopsHype: Eric Gordon No. 7 to the LA Clippers; D.J. White not listed in the first round and Hoops Hype does not do a mock draft of the second round

InsideHoops.com: Eric Gordon No. 6 to the LA Clippers; D.J. White listed as “In the lower first round mix.”

CollegeHoops.net: Eric Gordon No. 5; D.J. White No. 31

Hoops World: Eric Gordon No. 6 to the LA Clippers; D.J. White No. 34 to the Minnesota Timberwolves

A couple of quick observations from this exercise: First, Gordon seems to have fallen behind Jerryd Bayless of Arizona on nearly every draft board. Before the second half of the season, most of us thought it was going to be Gordon vs. Derrick Rose for the top guard in the draft. Now, it appears Gordon is the No. 3 guard in the draft and a couple of boards have him below O.J. Mayo. Shooting 32 percent and committing 4.2 turnovers per game over your last seven games will do that.

Second, D.J. White is not a sure thing to land in the first round which is hard to believe given the kind of season he had. However, when you take into consideration that White doesn’t fit the prototype for a true power forward in the NBA, you have an explanation on why many teams might shy away from taking him in the opening round.

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